4 Ways To Find The Perfect Contractor

Finding the right contractor is essential in making high-end and high-value renovations. But finding them is a tough job these days, which is why I’m sharing with you some techniques on how to spot the perfect contractor for all your renovation needs.

1. Interview Local Building Inspectors

Let’s face it: few investors ever think of chatting up their local building inspectors, because they have a reputation for being strict with the rules. But it’s about time we kick this habit to the curb!

Not only are they experts in building standards, especially for property renovation, they also have an untapped treasure box of information about different builders or contractors in your area, since they’ve probably encountered these builders or contractors more than once during their career. While some keep up their “professional” image, for justifiable reasons, a select few are willing to give out helpful and informal property renovation advice about a project even before their first scheduled inspection.

2. Go Online!

You may find excellent builders and their designs online

It’s a fact of life that everything can be found online nowadays. Although there’s still no category for contractors in Amazon, there are 2 websites you can visit to find great builders in the UK: Mybuilder.com and RatedPeople.com.

In Mybuilder.com, anyone, from homeowners to investors, can post details about their project requirements while builders outbid each other for the job, essentially they are property renovation auctions in reverse. At the moment, the site has around 37,000 registered builders. RatedPeople.com operates almost on the same concept as the previous website. Whatever website you choose, it’s a win-win for both the client and the builder, because they clients can post their feedback after the work has been completed, and the builders’ local ranking increase the better feedback they get.

3. Look Out For The TrustMark Symbol

To those unfamiliar with the name, TrustMark is a government-backed umbrella organisation of 30 organisations including the Federation of Master Builders, the National Federation of Roofing Contractors and the electric trade body NICEIC. Any organisation and property renovation business you can find at Trustmark.org.uk claims that it had its work and financial status regularly checked, and also provides its customers a range of other benefits including optional extra insurance and a user-friendly complaints procedure.

4. Don’t Be Lured By Discounts

While high project costs don’t necessarily mean high quality outputs, it’s also important to resist the urge of going for a builder that offers manpower at half the regular cost. On the contrary, you have to be suspicious of people offering work at a much lower price! Why? It’s very likely that the builder with a lower offer is putting in a speculative bid to try and get the work and aims to make more profit on the project by cutting corners or introducing a range of extra charges as work progresses. So that when you compute the entire property renovation costs, there was really no discount in store for you.